Shouyou Hinata and the Gryffindor Firebolts
by princessbelle212
Summary: Hinata is an average teenage wizard. He has good friends, interesting classes, and an overwhelming obsession with Quidditch. He's determined to be the best Chaser on the Gryffindor house team, but will he be able to overcome rivalries and enemies and hormones and lead the Gryffindor team to victory? The Hogwarts Quidditch Cup AU that no one wanted.
1. Chapter 1

Growing up in Kenmare, Shouyou Hinata had been surrounded by magic for his entire life. His father, an eccentric writer, and his mother, a steadfast member of the Ministry of Law Enforcement, lived in a cottage on the eastern side of the village. It was one of the most magically-dense villages in all of Ireland, with a history that could be traced all the way back to Partholón and his group of early settlers. Magic infused the foundation of every home, the roots of every plant, the breeze off the sea. Even the Muggle families in the village often had magic somewhere in their genealogy. The ones who didn't were the sort to readily accept the presence of the supernatural. Hinata's neighbor was a famous Muggle psychic that had a popular daytime television show.

Hinata's mother had gone to school at Hogwarts, like the majority of the other wizards in the country. Hinata's father was a Muggle, Irish to the depths of his soul. Hinata's father was a muggle, but he loved magic, and wrote fantasy novels for teenagers that were based on life in Kenmare.

Hinata lived a blessed life. He knew this, and it only helped encourage his love for his town. He had lots of friends, a loving family, and most importantly, the Kenmare Kestrals Quidditch team. Hinata loved Quidditch, and went to as many matches as his family could afford. The Kestrals' left-point Chaser, Kier Marcus, was a legend who also played for the Irish National team. He'd taken them all the way to the World Cup when Hinata was ten, and Hinata still daydreamed about the chanting of "Small Giant" that had swelled from the crowd.

Then, fifteen years before Hinata had been born, Dean Thomas, Muggle-born football enthusiast, had been instated as both the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and leading member of International Confederation of Wizard's Quidditch Committee. He'd introduced some rule changes that had initiated a complete overhaul of the game on an international scale. The Seeker, he'd argued, while a challenging and engaging player to watch, destroyed the balance of the modern game. The seeker made the rest of the team unnecessary in 97% of cases. Improved broom technology was also a cause of the problem. The introduction of the Nimbus line, with its improved velocity charms, started a series of brooms that could fly faster than a Snitch. Seekers were often able to catch the Snitch within minutes since they could outstrip it in the air. Day long, and even hour-long matches became a thing of the past. The immediate point gap and game end provided by the Snitch all but guaranteed victory to whichever Seeker was successful. The skill of the opposing Chasers and Keepers and Beaters became irrelevant. The rest of the team became obsolete, Committee Head Thomas had argued. An overhaul of the game was needed to keep Quidditch relevant in modern Wizarding times. New rules were tested and played. It took ten years of struggle and international debate, but finally Thomas was successful, and the international rules of Quidditch were changed.

That rule modification was the reason Hinata wanted to play Chaser. With the Seeker's role completely overhauled, the Chasers became the most dynamic players on the field, working together in tight duos and trios, and new combinations were developed to maximize Quaffle advantage. Coaches could focus more on improving the effectiveness of all the players on the team as a whole. Seekers were still important too, Hinata knew. His childhood Quidditch coach had always tried to pressure him into playing Seeker. He was small and fast and quick, which were all necessary qualities when chasing the Snitch. Seekers didn't get to enter the game until their team had scored a hundred points, though, and once they were in, the game ended when they caught the Snitch. It was a dangerous position, and required a lot of strategy to ensure the victory of their team. Hinata respected the position, but his passion was in chasing the Quaffle after a well-timed throw by his teammates, in dodging Bludgers and performing the necessary aerial acrobatics to avoid being unseated, in feeling the rush when he slammed the ball perfectly through the goalpost, in outsmarting a challenging keeper.

He'd played in the children's league before he'd gotten his Hogwarts letter, but none of the other local children in Kenmare seemed as enthusiastic as he did. They were okay, but he'd never found another Chaser that he synced with. Their team traveled a bit, and sometimes played against the children from other wizarding villages, but they never won.

Then he'd turned eleven, and had gotten his Hogwarts letter just like his mother had promised he would. They'd bought his school supplies, bought him an orange pygmy puff ("It'll match your hair wonderfully!" his mother had said, tears in her eyes), and had sent him off on the train. He'd made friends quickly, his engaging personality attracting other shy first years to him. He would never forget the feeling of entering the castle on the boats in the lake. He'd never forget standing with the other anxious first years in the entrance hall. He'd never forget the awe he'd felt when he'd seen the Great Hall for the first time, with its floating candles and starry ceiling and the sea of unfamiliar faces.

He couldn't remember the song the Sorting Hat had sung, but he did remember his name being called. His palms had been drenched in sweat when he'd had to sit in front of the entire school. The sorting hat's voice had been papery and dry and had made him shiver.

 _Lofty ambition and a deep caring, yes. You could do well in Slytherin or in Hufflepuff, but I see at your core is an unbreakable courage. Your bravery will take you to great heights. Make your mark on GRYFFINDOR!_

He'd stumbled, surprised, over to the Gryffindor table. He hadn't given much thought to his house. His mother had been a Ravenclaw, but she'd made it clear to him that all houses were wonderful in different ways. In the aftermath of the Great War, improvement in inter-house unity programmes had helped remove some of the negative stereotypes of the different houses. Headmistress McGonagall had spent her career as headmistress mending the former divisiveness between houses. She'd even tried to implement new rules that would have delayed sorting until third year. The proposition had made it to the board of directors, but they had insisted that a little competition was healthy for young people.

Still, Hinata hadn't been expecting Gryffindor. It was the house of the legendary heroes of the Great War. More importantly, it was the house of the Small Giant. He glanced at the table full of strong, happy faces cheering for him, and felt a little overwhelmed. He hadn't given his sorting much thought, but he'd expected Hufflepuff more than anything. Still, he refused to be intimidated, and slid into an open seat on the Gryffindor bench. He was greeted with good natured slaps on the back, and felt more comfortable at once. The rest of his class had been sorted without any hatstalls, and he found himself with fifteen other first years all sorted into Gryffindor. It was a big class, but enrollment in Hogwarts had increased after the Great War. Muggles were having more and more magical children, and Hogwarts was the fullest it had ever been.

The fallout of the Great War had affected the entire mentality of the Wizarding World. The post-War ministry was determined not to allow prejudice against Muggles to continue. Minister Shacklebolt, the first Minister of the Reparation period, had established new laws to promote further understanding of their Muggle neighbors. Hermione Granger, a chief legislator of the Wizengamot, had helped Headmistress McGonagall in introducing expansive change to the educational policies of Hogwarts, largely based on her own experience as a Muggleborn student in the years leading up to the war. Inclusiveness was valued. Inter-house unity was made easier. More inter-house extracurricular clubs were added: chess club, duelling club, Model Wizengamot Association club, Practical Defense team, and others. Students had been encouraged to expand their knowledge and interests outside of schoolwork and to form lasting friendships with students from other houses..

These changes had affected the school Quidditch teams, too. Hinata had read and re-read all those parts in his books. In the years after the Great War, and as the school expanded, the inter-house Quidditch cup had been limited to students fourth year and up only. The first through third years all played on mixed-house introductory teams, so Muggle-born students who had never been on a broomstick before had a chance to catch up to the level of their peers with wizarding parentage. This had led more students to attempt to join the house teams when they reached fourth year, and Hogwarts eventually had to follow the example of the other wizarding schools in Europe and split into a boy's league and a girl's league. "A Study of Extracurricular Quidditch in Europe" had informed Hinata that this change had created quite an uproar in the UK wizarding community, but with the extra influx of students and the support of professional teams like the Holyhead Harpies, had remained in place to give everyone a fair chance to play on their house team. It had helped that without their co-ed house teams, Hogwarts was able to play in the European Educational Quidditch Championship against the other two wizarding schools in Europe, which had benefitted international relationships between students as well. In the aftermath of the defeat of Voldemort, the Ministry had been quite keen on any programme that increased the cohesion of the wizarding world as a whole.

Hinata had played through his first three years, of course. His intramural team was awful just like his childhood team had been awful, and he'd developed a healthy rivalry with his housemate Kageyama. Kageyama had been placed on a team with a few Slytherins that Hinata hated, a Muggle-born Ravenclaw whose name he couldn't remember, and a handful of Hufflepuffs. He had developed a reputation for being an unbearably bossy genius on the Quidditch Pitch. Whenever Hinata played against him, he felt a strange mix of rage and fascination. It wasn't fair to have that much natural talent. Kageyama was Muggle-born, but his ball control was incredible, and the quaffle flew wherever he wanted. Kageyama flew like he had been flying his whole life. Hinata didn't have anywhere near that level of control, but he could outdistance Kageyama in a head-to-head race, and outmaneuver him when Bludgers went flying at the two of them.

As Hinata and Kageyama continued to play for their respective introductory teams, word had started to spread to the older Gryffindors on the boy's House team. By the time they'd reached third year, Kageyama and Hinata developed a vicious rivalry. They flew harder and harder in each of their matches, trying to prove that they were the worthiest of a spot on the team when they finally reached fourth year. The rational voice at the back of Hinata's mind told him over and over that there would be two open chaser positions on Gryffindor's starting lineup when they were finally allowed to try out, but the excited paranoid voice in his head shouted louder that it didn't matter and that he still had to prove he was the best. Kageyama had way more to worry about than Hinata did, since the center striker position on the Gryffindor team was already played by Sugawara, who would only be going into his sixth year. Kageyama was way better than Sugawara was, though. Hinata felt bad for thinking it, but the entire school knew it was true. Sugawara knew himself, but he was also best friends with Daichi, who was rumored to be slated for team captain. Kageyama had to outperform Sugawara at try-outs, or he would probably be playing right wing Chaser and not center striker.

The Gryffindor house team was historically the best team in the school, but since the Small Giant had graduated six years prior, the team had deteriorated. In Hinata's third year, the Gryffindor team hadn't even made the Quidditch Cup Finals. They'd managed to beat Hufflepuff in the semifinal, barely, but they'd been thrashed by the polished skill of the Slytherin team and their incredible chasers. He'd watched sullenly as Ravenclaw then eked out a win over Slytherin in the final, and made a vow to himself that when he was finally allowed on the team, they would take the Cup all four years he was allowed to play and return Gryffindor to its former Quidditch glory.

When Hinata boarded the Hogwarts Express to leave for his fourth year, he felt his skin prickling with an excitement he hadn't felt since he'd ridden the train for the very first time. He couldn't contain his energy, and banged his way down the train, knocking into other students. He peered into compartments, looking for his friends, Yachi, Izumi and Kouji, and finally found them sitting in a compartment with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, two other Gryffindor boys in their year. Hinata made a face, but he clambered into the compartment anyway, slamming the door behind him so that the glass rattled. Yachi smiled at him, her enthusiasm for life in general almost matching Hinata's own. He plopped down onto her lap and wrapped his arms around her.

"I missed you!" he yelled, then reached over and grabbed Izumi into the hug as well. "And you too!"

"It's only been a few months since last term," came Tsukishima's bored drawl from the corner of the compartment. "You really should calm down before you break something."

Hinata paused his hugging long enough to glare over at him. He didn't much care for Tsukishima, who seemed grumpy all the time and only cared about getting top marks in all his classes. Hinata couldn't understand why he'd been put in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw. He didn't have many friends except for Yamaguchi, who was quiet and shy but would be a lot nicer, in Hinata's opinion, if talking to him didn't also mean talking to Tsukishima.

"And get your own seat. You're distracting, slobbering all over your girlfriend like that." Tsukishima had a thin book clutched in his fingers and he was thumbing through it idly, not even bothering to look up at Hinata.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Yachi spat back at Tsukishima. "Stop being such a grump all the time! We're not even at school yet!"

Tsukishima opened his mouth like he was going to argue with her, but was interrupted by a knock against the glass. The compartment door slid open and revealed Kageyama, who was glaring at the floor and clutching his owl cage under one arm.

Hinata scrambled off of Yachi's lap and stood up, glaring at Kageyama. He pissed Hinata off in an entirely different way than Tsukishima did. "What do you want?" he yelled, windmilling his arms in an effort to shoo Kageyama out of the compartment. Izumi grabbed his arms and held them down without comment. Hinata did have a long history of breaking things on accident.

"The train's almost full," Kageyama snapped. "I need a seat. I don't want to sit with-" he broke off with a glare to Hinata, and pushed past him and into the compartment.

"It's fine if you sit with us, Kageyama," said Yamaguchi in his soft voice. He made room on his other side, pressing closer to Tsukishima.

Kageyama put his owl on the luggage rack, then sat down with his arms and legs crossed, glaring across at Hinata.

Hinata glared right back at him. Kageyama annoyed him in the same way that Quidditch excited him. Just having to look at his smug face and strong, Quidditch-bronzed hands made Hinata's skin prickle. It made him want to fight and jump and get out all the excess energy, just like his excitement did. He was pissed off. He couldn't wait to grind Kageyama's face into the Quidditch pitch at the first try-outs.

"So!" Yachi said brightly, trying to sooth over the sudden tension that crackled through the apartment. Hinata ignored her, busy in a staring contest with Kageyama. He wouldn't blink, no matter how his eyes started watering. "I heard that we're getting a new herbology teacher this year! Professor Longbottom is retiring!"

Hinata didn't care very much about Herbology, and didn't reply. He kept glaring at Kageyama, his cheeks starting to turn red with the effort of not blinking. Yamaguchi said something agreeable in response to Yachi's question, and the rest of the compartment seemed content to stolidly ignore the tension between Kageyama and Hinata.

Eventually, Hinata had to blink, and built up tears cascaded down his cheeks. He felt his face burn with embarrassment, and he wiped them away furiously before turning his back to Kageyama as best as he could and focusing his attention on the conversation around him.

Kouji was talking about the dueling club. Apparently he was going to be a Junior Coordinator, whatever that was. Tsukishima sniffed, but nodded.

"You'll be good at it," Tsukishima said, not looking up from his book.

"Thank you," said Koushi. He didn't seem to have earned Tsukishima's wrath, at least, and wasn't afraid to engage him in conversation. "I'm surprised they didn't ask you, to be honest."

Tsukishima shrugged. "I'm not sure I'm going to be a member this year."

Hinata gaped at him. One of the only things he knew about Tsukishima is that he loved duelling club. "What are you doing instead?" he asked, his eyes wide and still watering a little from his staring contest.

"I thought I'd try out for the Quidditch team," Tsukishima said, lounging back against his seat, long legs sprawled out in front of him. "Chaser, probably." His mouth quirked up into a small smirk, and he looked between Kageyama and Hinata.

"What?" Kageyama asked, gaping at Tsukishima the same way Hinata had.

"Since when do you play Quidditch?" Hinata demanded, standing up and leaning down over Tsukishima. He peered into his eyes, trying to see if he was lying. His stomach twisted up. He'd been feeling so confident about his chances of getting on the team. He knew he was good. Maybe not as good as Kageyama, but still good enough that with two open Chaser positions, he would be all but guaranteed a starting spot. He hadn't factored an unknown entity like Tsukishima into his plans at all.

Tsukishima just gazed coolly back at him, the faint smirk still on his face. "I've always played. I learned from my brother. I play right point Chaser."

"Well why the hell didn't you play on the introductory teams then?" snarled Kageyama, who had sat up and was glaring over Yamaguchi's head.

Tsukishima sneered. "I don't need introductory practice. I'm well beyond that point already. I have been playing my whole life, after all."

Kageyama's face tinged pink at that, and his eyes narrowed at Tsukishima. Hinata gulped. Kageyama didn't like any mention of the fact that he hadn't been able to grow up playing Quidditch.

"Well, I've played my whole life too!" Hinata shouted, windmilling his arms at Tsukishima this time. "And I still played on the introductory teams! It was awesome and fun!"

"Well, I didn't feel the need to waste my time on a team that was just going to lose over and over," said Tsukishima, mocking Hinata's tone.

Rage boiled up in Hinata then, and he drew in a deep breath to yell at Tsukishima, feeling righteous indignation for the honor of his team. Yachi stood up behind him and clamped both hands over his mouth, drawing him down to sit on her lap again.

"I think getting detention while still on the train might be setting the wrong sort of school record," she told him sternly, and didn't release her hands until Hinata had stopped squirming and slumped back, glaring over her hands at Tsukishima. She was right, of course. If he got detention now, he might not be able to go to Quidditch try-outs.

"We don't have any seventh years this year, right?" asked Yamaguchi in his soft voice. "Not with all the chaser positions open."

"That's right," snarled Kageyama, who was also still glaring at Tsukishima. "There's three spots open for chasers, but they have the three fifth years who were reserves last year. If you want to start on the team, you have to be better than them. And me, of course."

"Ah, yes, however shall I compete with the prodigy ruler of the pitch," sneered Tsukishima. "It will be a terrible challenge, I'm sure."

"Well, you both have to beat me too!" yelled Hinata. "I will get a spot on the team! For sure!"

"Whatever, dumbass. You've never had anyone actually decent to play with so who knows how good you actually are."

"I'm way better than you'll ever be, idiot Kageyama!" Hinata shouted, but cringed back against his seat when Yachi shot him a dirty look. He folded his arms and stared at the window, starting to go through moves in his head so he could prove to the Gryffindor captain that he was the most deserving of a starting spot on the team.

"I'm thinking about trying to announce the matches," said Yachi, making a valiant attempt to change the subject.

"Shimizu is so good at it, though," said Izumi.

"I know," Yachi said, her eyes glazing over and a grin spreading across her face. "Oh, I know! She's perfect in every way."

"She's a little too serious for my taste," said Kouji.

"Yeah, but her knowledge of the game is encyclopedic."

"Well, whatever the case, there are certain players that could focus more on the actual game and less on showing off for her," muttered Kageyama from where he was sitting and looking sulky.

Yachi obviously didn't know how to continue a group conversation in the face of such belligerence, so she just rolled her eyes and turned to shut Kageyama and Tsukishima out of the conversation.

The soft voices of his friends rolled over Hinata, and he lost track of time as he watched the scenery pass by. He could picture himself flying on the pitch, soaring over the crowd in gold and scarlet robes, catching the Quaffle after a series of expert maneuvers. He would be the best. He'd beat Tsukishima and Kageyama for a spot on the team, no matter what it took. He'd skip meals to practice. He'd skip Astrology to practice. It was a useless class anyway. He would be on the team, and no one would stop him from flying as high as his dreams demanded.

His eyes blurred as the train traveled north. His mind was too full of Quidditch theory and visualizations to focus. He didn't respond when the food trolley came by, and was only startled out of his reverie by the pumpkin pastie that Yachi threw into his lap.

"Eat this," she said, frowning at him. "Who knows how long the sorting is going to take this year."

Hinata smiled at her and ripped open the orange and green packaging. Pumpkin pasties were his favorite. He'd discovered the kitchens in his third year and would enthuse about the pasties until the house elves gave him an entire platter.

He stuffed the entire sweet into his mouth and closed his eyes in bliss. They snapped open again when he felt someone staring at him, and he met Kageyama's disapproving gaze. Hinata tried to glare back at him, but the effort must have been mitigated by the food bulging in his cheeks. Kageyama just rolled his eyes and ripped open a chocolate frog. Hinata felt his face warm, and he crossed his arms and sulked in his chair. Stupid Kageyama just had to share a compartment with them and ruin a peaceful train ride. Tsukishima's presence made everything worse, though he was too distracted sharing some Weasley's Whipped Weasels with Yamaguchi to pay attention to the glaring contest.

Yachi kept trying to talk to him for the rest of the train ride, but Hinata ignored her so he could continue contemplating how he was going to fly circles around Kageyama at tryouts. Something about the stupid jerk motivated Hinata to play his very best. He wanted to try out some new moves he'd seen in Quidditch Weekly. Of course, he hadn't had anyone to toss him the Quaffle properly, so he hadn't been able to practice them on his own over the summer.

When they reached the station on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, the train emptied and the students milled about on the platform while they waited for the horseless carriages to take them all to the castle. The air was still muggy with the summer heat. Hinata started to sweat in the stuffy school robes. He wanted to change into his Quidditch practice gear and fly around to feel a breeze on his face, and he started bobbing up and down until a carriage finally rolled up. He climbed in with Yachi and Izumi and Kouji, finally free of the looming presence of Tsuskishima and Kageyama.

He glanced behind him, watching the train platform get smaller behind them, and caught sight of Kageyama standing alone on the platform with an unaffected look on his face. He must have felt Hinata watching him, though, because their eyes met and Kageyama's mask cracked into a look of annoyed discomfort. Hinata watched as he climbed onto a random carriage with students wearing Ravenclaw robes, and scowled. Kageyama was probably selling Gryffindor team secrets to them. It would have been better if he'd crammed into Hinata's carriage instead.

The carriage trundled over the grounds towards the castle. Hinata twisted in his seat to catch a glimpse of the distant goal hoops of the Quidditch pitch. He leaned so far over that he almost fell out of his seat. Izumi caught his robes before he toppled over without breaking his conversation with Kouji.

The upperclassmen flooded into the Great Hall, and Hinata was soon seated at the Gryffindor table. Sounds of happy conversation floated up with the candles until the twisted line of first years worked their way into the front of the room. Headmistress McGonagall stood up and welcomed the first years, and the sorting ceremony began.

The first years all looked young and terrified, but Hinata found himself scowling at them, because it seemed like all of them were around his height. He'd hoped for a growth spurt after third year, like Izumi, but he was still short enough to be mistaken for a first or second year. Chasers were supposed to be tall and strong and powerful, and Hinata was tired of being mistaken for a Seeker. He would have killed for some of Tsukishima's height. Still, he was certain he could fly the fastest and score the fastest, and that was all that mattered in a game. He was used to being underestimated, even though it pissed him off.

Soon, the Gryffindor table was even more packed with the new first years, and the feast began. Hinata filled his plate with an impressive stack of meat pies, and got into a heated debate with Yachi about the Kestral's chances in the league against the Tutshill Tornadoes.

"I just don't think that one strong player like Morgan is enough to compete with the speed of Penelope Davies," Yachi argued. "She's the fastest seeker the league has seen in years!"

"Doesn't matter," Hinata said, his mouth full of beef and potatoes. "Can't compete with a strong line of chasers. Even if MacMillan isn't the best seeker around, he'll always be at an advantage thanks to the chasers. If he was really that incompetent, he wouldn't have made a professional team! It's not like it's easy!"

"You're both wrong," said Kageyama, and Hinata and Yachi both turned to stare at him. Kageyama rarely spoke during meals, but he was glowering at Hinata from three seats away.

"Eavesdropping is rude, git!" Hinata yelled.

Kageyama shrugged. "The league is going to Puddlemere United this year. They've got two Weasleys and a Potter on their team."

"So what? Puddlemere is probably just after the name recognition!"

"You know that the Potters and Weasleys have consistently been the best two Quidditch families in England for years now," Kageyama said, glaring over his bowl of carrot and lentil soup at Hinata. "I went to one of their practice matches this summer. There's no hope for any other team."

"Kenmare is going to prove you so wrong!" Hinata said, leaning over the table to yell in Kageyama's face and dragging his elbows through his plate of pies. "The Small Giant is still the best goal scorer in the country! We'll beat you!"

Kageyama just scoffed and went back to his soup. Hinata seethed, feeling too annoyed to finish the rest of his pies.

He stared unblinking at Kageyama until Professor McGonagall stood up to make the welcoming speech.

"I am glad to see you all here," she said in her brisk Scottish brogue. "This year at Hogwarts will be just as fine as the years preceding. We will continually strive to make our school a safe learning environment for any student that wishes to learn. We will strive to stay strong as a school, and not fracture under stress. I hope you will all make an effort to make lasting, broad-reaching friendships with your own houses, and with students of other houses. For our new first years, you are encouraged to participate in any extracurricular activity that you wish. Older students, I expect the same participation that you have given in previous years. On that note, Dueling Club is having an introductory meeting tomorrow morning directly following breakfast. Please meet Prefect Malfoy at the Slytherin table if you wish to participate, and she can give you appropriate instructions. Dumbledore's Army will continue to meet Wednesday Evenings. Quidditch tryouts for those fourth year and above have been arranged with each separate team captain. Please see the notice boards in your house common rooms for further information, and for information about our smaller club activities as well. Thank you." She sat down again and waved her hand. With her dismissal, the Great Hall emptied.

Hinata and Kageyama stood up at the same time, and glanced at each other. Hinata felt a spark of competition flare up, and he darted towards the stairs half a second before Kageyama.

They dashed up towards Gryffindor tower, taking steps four and five at a time, other students moving out of their way. Hinata was determined to win. Kageyama had been behaving like a conceited asshole for the whole train ride, and Hinata would prove that he was worth more than snide comments.

Hinata moved without thinking, jumping over trick stairs and past laughing portraits that were cheering them on. Hinata could see the Fat Lady's portrait up just one more flight of stairs, and put on another burst of speed, jumping up the staircase in two jumps. Kageyama crashed into the wall right after him, breathing heavily.

"Goodness," said the Fat Lady, looking down on them with both eyebrows raised. "I'm afraid that one went to Hinata, Kageyama, but you both really ought to be more careful. Careening around like maniacs. Password."

Hinata paused his victory dance and stared over at Kageyama. He'd forgotten to ask a prefect for the password. Kageyama stared back at him blankly, and Hinata threw his arms up in frustration.

"We don't have it. Can you let us in anyway?" he asked, though he knew it was useless.

The Fat Lady gave them both a stern look. "No password, no entry. You'll have to wait."

Hinata growled and slunk down to sit on the floor, his back against the wall.

"Idiot," Kageyama said, but slumped down to join him.

"You didn't ask either!" Hinata shot back.

"Whatever. You cheated anyway. You got a headstart."

"I'm way faster than you. It's not my fault you can't accept it!"

"The definition of cheating means that you can't win normally, dumbass! Let's try again in a fair fight! The Fat Lady can count down for us, and I'll leave you stuck on the seventh floor when I've already reached the bottom!"

"Fine! Let's go!" Hinata stood up again, ready to run. He turned back to the Fat Lady expectantly while Kageyama got to his feet.

She sighed at them, shaking her head. "I don't know how you two haven't destroyed half the castle. It's just my luck that I always get stuck with you sort."

"'You sort'? What does that mean?" Hinata demanded.

"It means you destroy everything because you're too overly excited all the time. Like a little gerbil or something," Kageyama said. "Maybe if you could calm down, we could actually have a proper race."

"What do you know, Kageyama? You were running just as much as I was! Plus you're worse at charms than I am!"

"So? You're way worse at Transfiguration! You're the worst in the whole year!"

"Am not!"

"Don't even try to deny it." Kageyama was looming into Hinata's personal space, bending down to yell in his face.

Hinata glared back up at him, standing on his toes to try and maximize his height. "I could transfigure you into a turtle, since you're the same speed as one!"

"What's going on here?" asked a deep, confident voice. Hinata turned and abruptly stepped away from Kageyama, shrinking down in embarrassment. It was Sawamura Daichi, the new captain of the Gryffindor boy's team, and next to him was Koushi Sugawara, the sixth year prefect.

"I- I- we don't know the password!" Hinata yelled, screwing up his eyes in embarrassment.

Daichi stared between the two of them for a moment, then stepped up to the Fat Lady. "Lacewing flies," he said, and she smiled at him and swung open.

Hinata and Kageyama waited for Daichi and Sugawara to climb through. Hinata glanced over at Kageyama and saw a look of chagrin on his face that matched how Hinata felt. He wanted to impress Daichi, but he'd never spoken to him much before.

Daichi turned to both of them when they were inside the common room. "I hope you both will behave more appropriately for Quidditch tryouts. They're going to be this Friday at six in the evening. I expect you both there, but there has been a lot of interest this year. There are only two spots open for chasers, and you're competing against some of our reserve players from last year. I expect only cooperation and sportsmanship from my players, or we'll have no chance at beating any of the other houses." He smiled at both of them, and the look was somehow creepier than his disapproval. Hinata felt his legs going numb in terror, and he let out a small squeak.

"They understand, Daichi," said Sugawara, placing a hand on his chest. He smiled at both of the fourth years. "We've been watching you play in the introductory leage. Bring your best to try-outs, and we could have a very strong team this year. Daichi will do whatever he has to to make us strong. It's been too long since Gryffindor won a Quidditch Cup."

Hinata nodded and his hair flopped into his face. He saw Kageyama do the same out of the corner of his eye, and Sugawara nodded at both of them. "We'll see you Friday, then. Good luck!" He led Daichi up the staircase to the boy's dormitories.

A/N

This fic is mostly an excuse for me to cram a bunch of my Harry Potter meta into people's faces in the form of cute volleyball dorks. I love Quidditch but it's so ineffective as an actual sport, so this is my attempt to make it more realistic.

It takes place about 30 years after the events of Harry Potter, so there's a lot of history tidbits that I'm including from the Harry Potter universe. Most of them don't follow the HP7 epilogue but are instead just my random headcanons.

I didn't sort players into houses individually, but sorted teams to keep everyone together. There will likely be lots of shipping by the end of this fic, so hold on to your bowler hats.

Feel free to come say hi on tumblr if you want. Link is in my profile.


	2. Chapter 2

The first week of classes was as long as Hinata expected. He had a full schedule before the Quidditch tryouts on Friday. On Tuesday morning, he woke up blinking into the familiar musty red light filtering through the curtains around his four-poster bed. He yanked back the curtains and bounded out of bed. The Gryffindor 4th-year dormitory was full of the sounds of sleeping boys and the morning light shining in through the windows made geometric patterns across the thick carpet.

The curtains around Kageyama's bed twitched, and Hinata gritted his teeth. There was no way he'd be beaten to breakfast by the stupid jerk. He threw on his trainers and school uniform, then dug in his trunk and pulled out his crumpled school robe. It would unwrinkle enough as he wore it.

Kageyama was up and out of bed the moment he blinked awake and met Hinata's eyes. Hinata wasn't even sure Kageyama had tied his shoes. But he didn't dwell, and tied his gold and red striped tie in the sloppiest functional knot. Kageyama was right behind him, so he sprinted out the door and let it slam shut behind him, and took the stairs into the common room two at a time. He heard the door slam again as Kageyama came bounding after. Hinata vaulted over one of the plush armchairs and darted to the portrait hole. He had one leg out into the hallway when he heard Tsukishima's grumpy morning voice yelling after both of them.

All the fourth year boys were experts in ignoring Tsukishima, and the shouting didn't make him miss a step. He clambered out into the hall and shut the Fat Lady in Kageyama's face.

"What rudeness!" she said, swinging open again as Kageyama followed.

"Sorry!" Hinata called over his shoulder, and took the familiar route to the Great Hall at a dead sprint. He stumbled and missed one of the stairs, and Kageyama caught up to him. They pushed each other faster, and sent a creaking suit of armor spinning around on its plinth as they passed. Hinata caught a glimpse of one of the portraits joining the chase on his horse, knocking the occupants of the portraits he galloped through into disarray.

"Fly, young knights! Stop whatever evil lies before you!" he shouted at them as they ran.

Finally, Hinata made it to the doors of the Great Hall. He had too much momentum to stop himself before he went crashing through the automatically-opening doors, and he slammed into the carved oak, Kageyama hitting him from behind. The doors banged open, echoing through the hall, and Hinata and Kageyama went sprawling into a heap.

"Get off me!" Hinata yelled, trying to disentangle himself from Kageyama's robe. Kageyama kicked him in the shin.

A set of clicking shoes strolled across Hinata's line of vision and stopped in front of him. He looked up at the tall, stately figure in tartan robes, and gulped.

Headmistress McGonagall was stern. Fair, but stern. Her mouth had thinned into a frightening line as she looked down her nose at the heap of fourth years.

"I forgave this kind of behavior when you were first years, gentlemen," she said, "but I expect a proper sense of decorum from our older students. Ten points from Gryffindor. You both will have other students to compete against, if you manage to stay out of trouble until Friday. Teammates need to work together if they want to stand a chance of winning any Quidditch matches. And I expect wins, gentlemen." Her stern expression twitched for a moment, and she swept past them up to the Head Table.

Hinata watched her go, trying not to gape. If McGonagall expected both of them on the Gryffindor team, that meant they were both probably going to make it. It was no secret that McGonagall, while theoretically unbiased as Headmistress, was an avid supporter of the Gryffindor house team.

Kageyama was staring after her too when Hinata managed to get to his feet. He offered a hand down to Kageyama to help him up. They might as well take her advice and start trying to tolerate each other, especially after losing house points on the first day. Kageyama gave the hand a filthy look and scrambled to his feet without taking it. Hinata glared at him and swept off to the Gryffindor table, trying to look as dignified as McGonagall had. His dignity vanished as soon as his plate filled with food, though, and he forgot about Kageyama in favor of stuffing his face full of sausages and potatoes and breakfast pasties.

The rest of the first day improved. His first Defense class was interesting, at least. It was a fun practical review of shield charms. Hinata had leaned close to Yachi when Professor Mizoguchi paired them off, but Yachi had gotten paired with Izumi and Hinata had gotten stuck with Kageyama, of course. Mizoguchi smirked at them as they glared at each other. Mizoguchi was the head of Slytherin, and he was as avid a Slytherin team supporter as McGonagall was a Gryffindor supporter.

When it was their turn to demonstrate in front of the class, Kageyama kept sending nasty jinxes at him, and he'd been so pissed off at the idiot that he'd managed to produce an almost perfect charm on his third try. He'd also blasted through Kageyama's weak first attempt and had laughed while Kageyama wobbled around on jelly legs for the rest of the class. He'd earned Gryffindor five house points and been happy enough that he could forget about the golden bubbles that flew out of his mouth every time he hiccuped.

Hinata's favorite class was double Herbology with Hufflepuff, because he got to pair up with Koushi. The new Herbology professor was pretty nice too, a short young woman with an absent-minded air. Hinata liked her even more when she accidentally spilled a pot of Crup droppings all down her front. She wasn't as knowledgeable as Professor Longbottom had been, and she didn't inspire the same sort of awe in the students, but Hinata found her easy to listen to. She knew a lot about fanged geraniums and gave clear instructions on how to re-pot them. Hinata managed to escape with only one small bite to his index finger. And there had been the added amusement of one of the flowers attaching itself to Tsukishima's nose and refusing to detach. He'd gone to the hospital wing with a troubled-looking Yamaguchi, and Hinata hadn't had to deal with his asshole comments for the rest of the day. The common room had been peaceful that evening without Tsukishima making annoyed noises when Yachi and Hinata played Exploding Snap too loudly.

The rest of the week wasn't as interesting as the first day, though. The anticipation of the first classes had worn off, and Hinata was too conscious about getting lectured by McGonagall to race Kageyama properly. Yachi was more militant about studying once they were assigned new homework, and wouldn't talk about Quidditch with him until she'd finished all of it, and had even dragged him to a study group with Izumi. He lost Gryffindor five house points for falling asleep in History of Magic, and two more for causing a small explosion in Potions class (how was he supposed to know that liquified kelpie nails combusted in water?) On Thursday, the day before the Quidditch tryouts, he'd been yelled at by Professor Goldstein for getting into a shouting match with Kageyama about the usefulness of body-blocking. They'd been threatened with detention, and the thought of being banned from tryouts had kept them both from each other's throats for the rest of the day.

Finally Friday arrived. Hinata woke up early and tore the curtains back from his four poster. He glanced over at Kageyama's bed and saw that it was empty. Bastard. He'd beaten Hinata down to breakfast. Tsukishima was sitting on the edge of his bed, though, and he raised an eyebrow at Hinata as he straightened his red and gold tie. "Your boyfriend darted out of here even faster than you usually do," said Tsukishima.

Hinata gaped at him, then threw a pillow his direction. It bounced off of Tsukishima's glasses. A direct hit! Tsukishima let out a disapproving noise as he straightened them back onto his nose. Hinata turned his back on him and threw on his clothes. He left his tie undone and his shoes untied and scrambled down the stairs into the common room. He didn't have time to let Tsukishima rile him up, especially with stupid insinuations about Kageyama. He'd beat them both. He just had to get through Charms and Ancient Runes and a two hour study period in the library, and he would be standing on the Quidditch pitch, Firebolt X-5 in hand.

Hinata liked double Charms, though, and was able to focus for half the class on the summoning charm they were working on. He was paired up with Izumi, who had practiced the spell in dueling club. Izumi managed to catch the pillow they were practicing with every time, but Hinata kept sending books and spare parchment and quills flying all over the room. He almost hit Yachi in the head with an inkwell, and threw his wand on the desk in frustration.

"You have to sense the weight of the items in the magical field of the classroom, and focus the spell that way," Izumi said, grinning at him.

"I'm trying!" said Hinata, closing his eyes. Izumi's Ravenclawish explanation made no sense to him. He thought he could sense the field of magic, stretched out all through the classroom, but it was super confusing. It seemed indecipherable to him, like a high wall that he couldn't reach through. Frustrated, he swept his wand in an arc and cried " _Accio!"_ and then had to duck as the pillow went zooming past his head and flew backwards to hit Tsukishima in the face.

He withered under Tsukishima's glare and hid behind Izumi. That was the second time today, and Hinata didn't want to piss him off more than he needed to. If they did end up on the same team, they'd have to be able to work together.

"Good try, Mister Hinata," said Professor Fortcomb in his encouraging voice. "A little less force next time, and you'd have gotten it. Good job ducking, though. I do admire your quick reflexes." Fortcomb moved back towards Tsukishima, asking if he was alright. Hinata felt his face flame in embarrassment, but the rest of the class passed without him causing further bodily harm.

Hinata bounded out the door when Charms was over and darted to the library. He couldn't miss his study period. Kozume Kenma was a fifth-year Ravenclaw and had made the starting Ravenclaw team as a fourth year. He and Hinata got along well, and Hinata counted him among his closest friends. Kenma was peaceful when Hinata was excited, and played Quidditch like a controlled weather charm where Hinata played like a hurricane. They'd never been on the same introductory team, but they'd practiced together on occasion. Kenma was strict about schoolwork, though. He didn't raise his soft voice often, Hinata had been on the receiving end of enough lectures to listen to his advice.

Kenma had convinced Hinata to sign up for Ancient Runes, back when Hinata had been a foolish second year and hadn't known any better. He hadn't wanted to take Muggle Studies, since he knew enough about Muggles from his father, but he needed a class in addition to Care of Magical Creatures. Kenma had insisted that Ancient Runes was easy and interesting, and Hinata had trusted his judgement. He hated his life for the first half of third year, and eventually had begged Kenma for help. They'd begun their weekly study sessions, and Hinata's marks had begun to improve. Sometimes he even found himself enjoying the subject. Runes were often incorporated into the manufacture of broomsticks.

The library was quiet and calm and smelled like parchment that had been buried in a grave for years. Hinata hated it. Even his softest voice would often bring Madam Pince, the ancient withered crone of a librarian, swooping down and shushing him with her terrifying glare. Hinata walked quickly through the stacks until he found Kenma in the Ancient Runes section, half hidden behind a pile of books. Only the undyed roots of his hair and the top of his scratching quill were visible. Hinata slid into the seat next to him. He slumped down and let his forehead fall to the table with a thunk.

"Can't I just go practice, just today?" he whined, looking at Kenma from the corner of his eye and attempting to look as miserable as possible. "It's not like I can focus anyway!"

Kenma glanced at him, unaffected by wheedling. "No.. Even famous Quidditch players have to have good enough marks to graduate," he said in his soft monotonous voice.

"So unfair!"

"It's only two hours, Shouyou. You'll survive. You have that Runes summer homework due." Kenma held out his hand for Hinata's essay without looking up from the line he was marking on his own parchment.

Hinata gulped. He'd written the necessary foot, but he couldn't remember if any of his opinions on guardian runes had been based on actual research, or if he'd even gotten the spelling right. Still, he dug the crumpled piece of parchment out of his bag and handed it over to Kenma. Kenma took it and started reading, head bent and mouth moving as he tested Hinata's work. Hinata, bored, scowled at Kenma's hair. His foot tapped with excess energy. Eventually Kenma made a disapproving sound and groped for his quill. He frowned down at the paper, then started to circle some of the runic phrases.

"These don't make sense. You need to fix them or the ward will be vulnerable in twelve places."

"I don't know how," said Hinata, pouting, but he took the essay back and examined the places Kenma had marked. He couldn't see anything wrong with them, but he tried adding in a few de-energizing lines to the central structure of the ward. Kenma watched him for a while, but didn't say anything to interrupt and eventually turned back to his own work. They wrote in silence for half an hour, until Hinata thought he'd figured out what Kenma meant. Some of the angles of his lines negated the defensive structure of his core rune.

"Your Quidditch tryouts are today, right?" asked Kenma, breaking the silence.

"Yeah!" Hinata yelled, startled out of his concentration, then glanced around the silent library guiltily as the sound echoed. Adrenaline rushed into him again, and he started bouncing.

"You'll be fine," said Kenma, and pulled Hinata's edited essay over. He scanned it again, then nodded. "This is better, too. Make sure you don't get into trouble in the next four hours. I heard Daichi telling Kuro that you and your classmate have been arguing all week. If you end up on the same team, you're going to have to learn to trust each other."

Hinata scowled at Kenma. He knew all that. It was exactly what Daichi had told him and Kageyama on the first day. "Kageyama is a great player. I'm still going to beat him and be the best on the team, but we can play together and make Gryffindor the best in all of Europe!"

Kenma made a noncommittal noise. He didn't care overmuch about Quidditch, not like Hinata did, but Ravenclaw's team was pretty good. They'd come in second in the Quidditch Cup last year, in part thanks to Kenma's precise throws and the team captain's ruthless offensive goal-scoring. It had been close, though. Hufflepuff had narrowly managed to beat them in the final, and its team would be just as strong as it had been the previous year. Only one of their beaters had been a seventh-year. Slytherin's team was getting better, too. They'd only come in third because of an injury to their center striker during their match against Hufflepuff.

Hinata stuck out his lower lip at Kenma for a moment, then went back to his essay. Kenma hadn't marked anything further on it, so he figured it was acceptable. With the essay as good as it was going to be, Hinata spent the rest of his study time doodling diagrams of maneuvers on a scrap piece of parchment and animating them with his wand. There were so many catches he wanted to try, and all he needed was someone to throw to him properly.

After Hinata meticulously sketched out a Dobkins Double-Spin, Kenma closed his book and stood up. Hinata threw his books in his bag and jumped up as well, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet. Kenma gave him a small smile.

"You'll be great, Shouyou. I'm looking forward to playing against the Gryffindor team this year. Don't forget to pay attention in Runes, though. Takeda might not let you try out if you spend the whole time daydreaming."

Hinata rolled his eyes, but nodded. "I'll try my best!"

He gave Kenma a quick hug, leaving the Ravenclaw stiff and blinking in shock, then darted out of the library.

Professor Takeda taught Ancient Runes, but more importantly, he was the head of Gryffindor House and had direct approval over which students were in good enough standing to make it on the team. Hinata tried to pay attention in his class, he really did, but his mind wouldn't stop wandering. The timekeeping hourglass dripping black sand seemed to be immobile, and Hinata stared at it with a glazed look on his face until finally the last grains dripped into the bottom barrel and Takeda collected their summer homework.

Hinata turned in his essay without a second glance, and ran out of the classroom. It was a fair distance across the grounds to the Quidditch pitch, and he didn't want to be late. He stopped for a moment in the Great Hall, where the tables were just filling with dinner food. He grabbed two meat pies, stuffed one in his pocket, and stuffed the other in his mouth as he ran out of the castle and across the grounds to the Quidditch pitch.

The sun was still out, but it was low on the horizon, casting long shadows past the trees. The white tomb of Albus Dumbledore sparkled dully in the low light, standing out in stark contrast to the deep green of the grass and the bright late summer green of the trees. The sun would impact visibility, but the ground was firm and would provide a good kickoff. The wind was low, too, so throws would be accurate.

The locker rooms and broomshed stood just behind the giant, colorful towers of the Quidditch Pitch, and Hinata felt the same sense of excitement he always felt when he walked inside the Gryffindor locker room. It smelled sharp and woody, the mingled smell of sweaty teenagers and grass-stained robes and broom polish and leather. He had a small locker on the back wall, left over from his time on the introductory team, and he tapped it once with his wand to open it. He didn't have his own Gryffindor Quidditch uniform yet, but he shucked off his school robe, tie, vest, and uniform shirt, leaving on only the Kenmare Kestrals t-shirt he'd been wearing underneath. He grabbed a pair of Quidditch leggings from out of his school bag and hopped around on one foot trying to get them on. While he was flailing, he heard the echo of footsteps entering the locker room, and looked up to see Kageyama and Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi walking towards the back row of lockers. Hinata glared at all of them, one foot still stuck halfway down the leggings, and ignored them as best he could.

Kageyama had his own locker from the introductory teams too, and Hinata found himself watching Kageyama change. All Kageyama's movements were precise and controlled, like he knew exactly how much force each of his limbs needed to provide the most efficient movement. He didn't get stuck in the leggings. Stupid bastard. Hinata bared his teeth at Kageyama's back and finished changing into his game shoes, then left the locker room without saying anything to the other boys.

His trusty broom, his prize possession, was hung up on a hook in the broomshed. It was a Firebolt X-5, one of the newest models on the market, and had been the choice of the Irish National team for two years running. It was also endorsed by Lily Potter, one of the Holyhead Harpies. He'd had to forego Christmas and birthday presents for a year, and agree to watch his younger sister Natsu every Friday night for the whole summer before his parents had bought it for him.

The wood of the handle gleamed a dark mahogany, with a lightning bolt pattern inlaid in gold up the handle. The foot braces were solid heavy steel, and Hinata kept the bristles trimmed and waxed to even perfection. He ran his hand lovingly over the handle, then took it down from the wall. The wood seemed alive in his hands, thrumming with the same desire to be bolting through the air that he felt in the pit of his stomach.

Kageyama had the same broom model, though he'd chosen silver inlay like the traitor to Gryffindor that he was. It rested in the hooks just above Hinata's broom. Hinata glared at it for a moment, hoping his dark thoughts would affect its speed, then shouldered his broom and walked onto the pitch.

The returning Gryffindor players were all standing in their team robes, the scarlet and gold silhouetted against the setting sunlight. They all looked tall and imposing, and Hinata gulped. There was so much talent already on the team. He had no idea if he'd be worthy.

Still, he tried to look confident as he walked over towards Daichi.

"Hinata," Daichi said, giving him a creepy smile. "We're lining up by position. If you're planning on playing chaser again, go stand behind Suga and them over there."

Hinata nodded, feeling his stomach start to flip, and he darted over to where Sugawara and two fifth year boys Hinata couldn't recall from the previous year's team stood stood.

"Hinata!" Sugawara welcomed him. His smile was way less creepy than Daichi's, and Hinata felt some of his tension leave. "Even the returning players have to battle for their starting spot. if they've got competition!" Suga said. "So we have to wait and see who else decides to turn up!"

Suga's smile was so cheery that Hinata felt an instant of guilt. Suga must know that he was going to be outplayed by Kageyama. Maybe he was hoping for a wing chaser position instead, though. Hinata hoped so, because the idea of playing with Sugawara was much more appealing than playing with Tsukishima.

The rest of the players filtered onto the pitch lined up in their respective groups. Sugawara, Hinata, and the two fifth years were joined by Kageyama and Tsukishima. Yamaguchi wandered over to stand with Daichi and Tanaka, the returning Beaters, and another fifth year hopeful. Hinata thought his name was Ennoshita. Hinata shot Yamaguchi a puzzled look. He hadn't realized that Yamaguchi even knew how to play Quidditch. He was probably dragged along by Tsukishima.

Daichi smiled that creepy grin at the two Beater candidates. "Excellent," he said, and Yamaguchi let out a little whimper and took a step back. "We can always use reserve beaters."

"Beat downnnnn!" yelled Tanaka, an easily excitable fifth-year. He was almost as good as Daichi, and had a powerful swing. His bludgers had broken a few opponent bones the previous year.

Threshfield, a small, weedy fourth-year boy with pockmarks over his cheeks went to go stand with Asahi Azumane, a massive sixth year who was the returning keeper. Threshfield glared up at Asahi, though, and the big Keeper went white.

"Hey!" yelled a loud voice from next to Asahi, "no intimidating our gentle, adorable Keeper! If you can stop goals better than him, fine, but none of his mental tactic shit before the tryouts!" A bouncing, short boy popped into Hinata's line of sight. Nishinoya was the most skilled seeker at the school, and had almost as much energy as Hinata had. The first time Hinata had talked with him, Noya had been disappointed that Hinata wasn't considering playing Seeker himself, but had also said that Hinata wouldn't have stood a chance against him. They'd competed against each other a few times when Hinata was a second year, and Noya's skill was so impressive even as a third year that Hinata had almost wanted to be a Seeker too.

No one could compete with Noya, though, and it was no surprise that no fourth years showed up to try and take his spot. When the distant six o'clock chimes sounded in Hogsmeade, Daichi blew his whistle and the players gathered around.

"This is excellent. We have enough to have a practice match," Daichi said. "Minus Seekers, of course. Noya, you're on your own."

Noya saluted, and kicked off the ground without warning, streaking up to an altitude. He looked tiny against the sunset, a red speck among red clouds. "I can keep an eye on things from up here!" he shouted down at Daichi, and Daichi gave him a thumbs up.

Professor Takeda soon wandered onto the pitch as well. He smiled at Daichi, and around at all the hopeful players. They all bowed when he approached.

"I'm glad to see such a turnout this year, Daichi! Gryffindor might have a really good chance." Takeda took out a clipboard and quill. "I'll be tallying player points from the ground, so that Daichi can play as best he can. First team, take these purple jerseys." Takeda Transfigured a few of the rocks around the pitch into the shirts. "That'll be Yamaguchi and Daichi as Beaters, Tsukishima, Sugawara, and Narita as Chasers, and Asahi as Keeper."

Hinata gulped. For all that Asahi was timid, he was a formidable Keeper. It would be difficult to get any points past him.

"Second team will be in black jerseys. Kageyama, Hinata, and Kinoshita. Tanaka and Ennoshita, you're beating. You. Threshfield. Keeper."

Hinata glared around at his teammates. He had no idea how good any of them were, except for Kageyama and Tanaka. He was not looking forward to having to play with Kageyama. Kageyama was a notorious Quaffle-hog. Hinata just hoped he'd pass.

He tugged the black jersey over his head. It smelled like the rock it had originally been, but Takeda's Transfiguration was incredible. It didn't weigh a thing. He stuck his hand out over his broom, and the Firebolt obediently jumped right up into his hand. He mounted and kicked off, and forgot about everything in the moment the wind whipped around his face.

He circled for a few moments, turning lazy loops, then startled out of his joyful play when Takeda's whistle sounded. He flew to the right of his team, not bothering to ask Kinoshita which position he played. Hinata was going to make the team, and that meant playing right wing.

Kageyama flew into the center, of course, and Kinoshita didn't seem to mind playing left. Hinata glared across the centerline of the pitch at Tsukishima, who would be playing opposite him. Tsukishima gave him a cool look, not bothering to reply, and Hinata felt his blood boil with anger.

The three starter balls floated in the middle of the court, held in suspension until the starting whistle. The anticipation Hinata always felt before a match made his arms tingle, and he couldn't help but grin over at Kageyama, who was regarding the Quaffle with a scary focus.

At Takeda's whistle, the Bludgers careened off in two haphazard paths, and the Quaffle floated lazily in place. Hinata flew up the sideline, keeping his peripheral vision trained on the Quaffle.

Kageyama snatched the ball from under Suga's reaching fingers and dove. Hinata felt a thrill, and had to do a quick barrel roll to avoid Tsukishima, who was attempting to block him.

He and Kageyama raced towards the goalposts at the end of the field. Hinata had seen Kageyama in action and played against him enough to know that sometimes Kageyama threw the Quaffle too quickly for the other chasers to react rationally. He'd have to move on pure instinct.

When Asahi loomed large in front of them, Hinata met Kageyama's eyes and in an instant knew what he was going to do. He darted up and to the left, looping over Asahi, and somehow felt exactly when Kageyama was going to throw.

He spun, his broomstick whipping in a circle, and had to close his eyes at the momentum. But he felt a crack against the handle of his broomstick and knew that he'd connected.

The Quaffle soared through the open left goalpost before Asahi had even started to move towards them, and Hinata hung in the air in shock for a moment. There was a heavy silence on the rest of the pitch as all the players hung in the air and stared. Hinata's heart thumped loud in his ears. That was what it was like to pass a proper throw. It was the best thing he'd ever felt.

Kageyama was the only one that seemed unaffected. He met Hinata's eyes again and made a weird sort of grimace. Hinata supposed it was supposed to be a smile. Hinata blinked at him, grinning hugely, and Kageyama dove after the Quaffle again.

A bludger came flying out of the air and hit Hinata squarely in the ribs. His breath left him in a whoosh and he had to perform an awkward barrel roll to stay seated on his broom.

Any annoyance that Hinata had felt at Kageyama's arrogance and obnoxious, grumpy attitude vanished while they played. The game passed in a blur of wind and shouts and perfect synchronization.

The returning team was excellent, too, though, and the match wasn't easy. Daichi and Tanaka were ruthless, thwacking bludgers at each other and at the opposing chasers. Daichi kept targeting Kageyama, who was forced to abandon a few easy tosses to Hinata to avoid getting brained in the head.

Tsukishima was good, too. The bastard kept snatching all of Kageyama's dropped Quaffles and scoring on Threshfield. Threshfield was an awful keeper for all his posturing. Suga and Tsukishima and Narita had little trouble scoring goal after goal on him.

Tanaka and Ennoshita managed to confound Sugawara's careful formations enough that the other team rarely had possession. Daichi was a match for Tanaka, but he was essentially working on his own. Yamaguchi tried, and managed to connect his bat with the Quaffle a few times, but his hits were never forceful enough to make contact with the opposing players. Ennoshita and Tanaka had practiced together. Hinata found himself distracted for a few seconds watching them work. Ennoshita wasn't as good as Daichi was, not even close, but he'd make an excellent replacement once Daichi graduated.

"Hinata!" yelled Kageyama from across the field, and Hinata started out of his daze. Kageyama had possession of the Quaffle again and was flying at full speed towards Asahi's goals. Hinata snarled and darted after him. His broom was quick and perfectly maintained, and he was easily able to dodge the bludger that Daichi sent his way. He could see Kageyama out of the corner of his eye, a matching streak in the air, and could sense Tsukishima at the tail of his broom, chasing him down.

Hinata jerked his broom handle to the left and ducked his head, giving the Firebolt a burst of speed, and Tsukishima was left ten meters behind him. There was open air between him and the three gleaming, golden goalposts. Asahi was hovering, a determined look on his face, in front of the center goal.

A glance to his left was all Hinata needed, though. Kageyama was flying a meter behind him, eyes dead set on Hinata's position. He felt the same connection, like his magic was flowing out to meet Kageyama's, and there was a perfect synchronization as the Quaffle left Kageyama's hands in a perfect arc.

Hinata didn't have to look at the ball, eyes focused on the goal, but he felt it connect sure and true to his palm. He flung out his arm and the Quaffle soared through the right goalpost before Asahi had flown half the distance to intercept.

Asahi slumped over his broom as the Quaffle soared past his block. Hinata turned to grin at Kageyama again, only to be caught up in the blue intensity of Kageyama's eyes. Surely those kinds of goals weren't normal. Hinata glared. "I could have done that without you!" he shouted, but he knew it was a lie. He'd never executed such flawless maneuvers in all his years of playing Quidditch.

They flew back to the center of the pitch as Asahi recovered the Quaffle. He was stalling by the goalposts, talking to Nishinoya. The returning team members didn't seem to mind the delay in the game, and Sugawara was watching the Keeper and Seeker with a fond look in his eyes. Hinata glanced over his shoulder, watching curiously as Nishinoya clapped Asahi on the shoulder. He seemed to be giving the burly boy a sort of pep-talk.

Hinata felt a bit guilty scoring on Asahi the way they just had. He knew Asahi had wilted under the pressure of the Hufflepuffs the previous year, even though he was as good a keeper as any of the other players at the school. Nishinoya seemed to be bolstering his confidence, though, and eventually Asahi waved Noya away, a determined look on his face.

Asahi lobbed the Quaffle in a powerful trajectory, placing it right into Sugawara's hands.

The purple team flew up the field. Hinata darted after Tsukishima, determined to stop his progress without committing a foul. He flew in circles, hoping for an intercept. Kageyama was tailing Sugawara, keeping just far enough away to prevent a whistle. Narita and Kinoshita were checking each other, too. Sugawara kept glancing from side to side, hoping for an opening.

The black team goals were quickly approaching, and Hinata set himself between Sugawara and Tsukishima. He could see Suga starting to panic, his eyes darting and looking for an opening.

"Bludger!" yelled Daichi from behind the Chasers, and Sugawara threw the Quaffle in Narita's direction before rolling over and just missing the Bludger aimed at his elbow.

Narita caught the Quaffle, but dropped it again as Tanaka caught the Bludger on the rebound and sent it howling into his stomach. Kinoshita caught it, and Hinata was barrelling up the field again.

The Quaffle passed from Kinoshita to Hinata to Kageyama back to Kinoshita, who made an attempt on the goal only to be stopped by Asahi. The purple team took possession again, and the tryouts continued, Hinata flying back and forth on the field in a blur of red hair and black jersey. He and his team managed to score on Asahi several more times. Asahi couldn't seem to figure out how to block the speed of Hinata's hits. Hinata made five goals assisted by Kageyama, and the connection between them strengthened every time. The point gap grew more and more, even with Threshfield's non-existent keeping skills.

After a half an hour, Takeda blew his whistle.

Hinata jerked to a halt in the air, panting. He'd never played Quidditch at such a fast pace. The tryouts had been a blur of excitement and thrill as he'd connected with the Quaffle again and again, matching Kageyama at every turn.

Kageyama seemed pleased too. He hovered in the air twenty meters from Hinata, a small smile quirking up the corners of his lips. His head turned and he met Hinata's stare. His expression faded a little, replaced with an intense gaze, but he nodded. Hinata grinned back, exhilarated and winded, and flew to the ground to gather around Daichi and Takeda.

"Good job," said Daichi, smiling his intense smile at all of them. "We're going to have an unprecedented team this year. Starting positions and backups will be posted in the common room at lunch tomorrow. You all performed well. Thank you for making this sacrifice for the glory of Gryffindor House." He bowed to all of them, and with that, the tryout was over.

Hinata stumbled back to the locker room, grinning and unfocused. He'd never experienced Quidditch at such a fast pace. All of the moves he'd spent all his nights memorizing finally started to make sense. He'd never felt anything like the thrill of catching Kageyama's throw. It didn't matter how he felt about Kageyama. Together they would be unbeatable.


End file.
